Team USA Captain Hilary Knight Responds To Trump’s Joke On Viral Phone Call: ‘Distasteful’

Team USA’s Hilary Knight is speaking out on Donald Trump’s joke from his viral phone call with the U.S. men’s ice hockey team. Knight, the captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team, called the president’s comments “distasteful” during a press conference for the Seattle Torrent. “No, I just thought the joke was distasteful and unfortunate. I think just the way women are represented – it’s a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed for their amazing feats. Now I have to sort of sit – and anybody has to sit – in front of you and explain someone else’s behavior. It’s not my responsibility, but what is shifting the focus and shifting the narrative of this amazing accomplishment that we all did together. And granted the men’s and the women’s team did it together, and that is super special. It’s never been done in our program’s history. It’s something we’re extremely proud about,” she said in part. Both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams won gold during the 2026 Winter Olympics. On Sunday, Feb. 22, the U.S. men’s hockey team celebrated their first gold medal win since 1980 in the locker room where they were joined by FBI Director Kash Patel who called Trump. While on speaker phone, the 79-year-old extended an invite to the group for the State of the Union on Feb. 24 and to the White House. He then brought up the women’s hockey team as he said with a laugh, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” Trump went on to quip that he’d “probably would be impeached” if they didn’t, as laughter erupted from the room.